Luke
6:17-26 (NLT)
17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great
crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and
Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon,
18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those
who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought
to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and
revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is
great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for
you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their
fathers did to the false prophets.
There Is an Old Story
About A Young Man
Who Was So Deeply Troubled
And He So Desperately
Wanted to Find Answers.
And In His Attempt,
He Went
to An Older – Wiser – Man of God.
When He Arrived at The Older Man’s House,
He Was
Offered Some Coffee.
As The Older Man Began to Pour, And Pour
The
Coffee Began to Fill the Cup,
The
Older Man Continued to Pour
And Soon, It Fill the Saucer
And Then It Began to Pour
Onto The Seeker’s Lap.
The Seeker Screamed,
Wanting To Know What
The Older Man Was Doing.
So, The Wise Older Man Began to Explain.
“I Am Teaching You a Lesson.”
“You Come to Me - Seeking Spiritual Fulfillment,
But You Are Already Full.
There Is Simply No Room for Anything Else. Go Home
and Empty Yourself.
And Then, Come Back With
A Heart Which Has Room for God.”
Jesus Words are recorded
Within the NLT Vision - Luke 6-24-26
And In My Bible – This is Titled,
Jesus Pronounces Woes
24 “What
sorrow awaits you who are rich,
For you have your only happiness now.
25 What
sorrow awaits you who
Are fat and prosperous now,
For a time of awful hunger awaits you.
What sorrow awaits you who laugh now,
For your laughing will turn to mourning and
sorrow.
26 What
sorrow awaits you who are praised by the crowds,
For their ancestors also praised false
prophets.
And the Same Verses within Luke 24-26 ESV:
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have
received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be
hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn
and weep.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of
you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
So - Let Us Be Truthful Here –
Does Our Scripture for today,
Does It Confuse You?
But Before We Begin, Do We all know That:
The Word ‘WOE’ –
Is an Expression of Regret,
And it is Filled with Compassion,
And It is Never Delivered as A THREAT!
YOU SEE – THE THING IS:
We Normally Do Not Feel
That It Is Wrong
If We Have Money?
IF You Have Enough to Eat?
If We Enjoy Laughter?
And How Can It Be Wrong
IF Others
Think GOOD Of You?
BUT Yet – Jesus Says:
· Woe to the Well Fed!
· Woe in being of Laughter!
· And Woe IF We are Spoken Well of!
SO - Doesn’t this Confuse You?
So – What Are These WOES Telling Us?
Let Us take a LOOK At Luke 9:23
& I Must Say - Each Time I Hear This,
It Truly - Breaks My Heart.
However - Jesus Does Speak the Truth!
“Then Jesus said to the crowd,
He Said this to You and Me,
“If any of you wants to be My follower,
You must give up your own way,
Take up your cross daily,
And follow Me.
And More than Not –
We Are JUST Like the Young Rich Man.
For Us Americans,
I Mean – With Us Having All of these Woes
Which Our Lord Speaks Of,
Do We Not Find This
Difficult to Handle?!?
Woe to the RICH!
Woe to Being FED!
Woe to Laughter!
Woe to having People think you are a good
person!
Can I ask You To Evaluate Yourself
On How Well Are You Doing?
Are You Good –
Bad –
or Maybe You Don’t Know?
YOU SEE – THE THING IS:
It Is Rather Difficult
For Us to Evaluate Ourselves,
To Not Knowing Of
To What Scale are we Using.
Do You Think that You Could Grade Yourself? –
By Using a Measurement of 1 to 10,
With 10 being the Best,
HOW Well Are YOU Doing?
How are You Doing:
· Within You Spiritual Life?
· Within Your Finances?
· Within Your Relationships?
· How Are You Doing with Your Worrying?
JUST - HOW - ARE YOU DOING?
We Can Speak of the Truth? RIGHT?!?
Can I just say that -
Many Of Us, It Is True
That We Are Full of Our WORRIES.
BUT IS IT NOT Also TRUE-
That In EVERY SINGLE DAY –
Isn’t there - More Than Enough
of STUFF
To Worry About Within That One Day?
So then – Why Do We Continue to
Worry?
And How Valid Is Our Own Worries (or concerns)
based upon
How the World is treating Everyone else?
There Has Never Been
(Even Considering ALL of the History of All of
the Societies)
Never - Before Has ANYONE
EVER BEEN ABLE TO ENJOY
The Type or Level
Of LIFESTYLE
Which WE,
US Americans Know OF
and THAT WE
Experience Right HERE –
Right NOW!
NEVER BEFORE –
Has It Ever Been Better!
BUT – With things as they are,
Then WHY - Within the US – Since 1960,
WHY Has
· The Divorce Rate Doubled,
· Teen Suicide Has Tripled,
· Violent Crime Has Quadrupled,
· And Incidences of Depression Are 10 Times
What They Were 100 Years Ago.
So – How Would You Say
That Here in Kansas – Within the USA
How Does What We Live In
Compare to the World?
Can you help me list off
From 10 being the Biggest,
In what order would
The World’s Biggest Economies
Be for the Year 2019-2020
The Top 10 Economically
BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA, FRANCE, GERMANY, INDIA, ITALY,
JAPAN, RUSSIA, UNITED KINGDOM, and USA
10 – USA, 9 – China, 8 – Japan, 7 – Germany, 6
– UK,
5 – India, 4 – France, 3 – Italy, 2 – Brazil, 1
- Canada
With You Now Knowing
That USA Is The BEST,
Being that Our Country is the Richest,
Not Lacking In Money.
Well Fed.
Having no huge problems so we are
full of laughter.
And we always leave a
Rememberable Legacy
Does Knowing this,
Does It Change Your Understanding?
Does it Change the Importance there of?
Does it Change the Seriousness Of
Our Lord’s Words?
Do You Now Have A
Greater Concern
Of How God Views Your
Being?
What You Do Do.
And What You Do Not Do.
Since We Live In the
BEST ECONOMIC Country,
It can Most Certainly
B e said that we are Literally,
‘Living High On the
Hog’.
· Woe in being Rich!
· Woe to the Well Fed!
· Woe in being of Laughter!
·
And Woe IF We are Spoken Well of!
Now - Jesus Poses His Own Probing Question -
A Penetrating Question –
A Question That Actually
Punches through Our Outer Shell
And into Our Inner Most Part.
He Said:
Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I tell you,
do not be anxious about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink,
nor about your body,
what you will put on.
Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing?”
So, Then - Why are We
So Anxious About Our Tomorrows?
We know That Each Day –
It Will Produce Enough Concerns
Of Its Own,
And So, We Do Not NEED to Carry
Our Yesterdays Issues into Todays
Nor Should We Worry
About Our Tomorrows.
We Know this BUT
Do-We-Not-Still-Worry??!
We Do – Some More than Others
However, Do we Know
WHO Are Our Worries are
Really Connected To?
IF We Chase them All Down,
We Will Find at the
Base of them ALL
It Is of Ourselves
Which we are
concerned about.
Our Worries Are About - Ourselves!
BUT – Listen to this:
Our Lives Are Not About
Ourselves!
They Truly Are Not.
If We Live Correctly –
We Live for and About God!
We Live to Celebrate God’s Life
(Giving Him Praise)
AND
We Live For Others
(Doing His Work Telling Others of HIM)
AND - ALWAYS –
Live Your Life – FREE WITHIN THE LORD.
FREE WITHIN GOD!
However,
When we Talk About what’s Going on
In our lives,
We just cannot do this
WITHOUT Saying Just
HOW FULL Our Lives Really Are!
Just as the Jews in Nazareth,
How they didn’t want to Lose Their Identity
Of Being Slaves
and Being Controlled by others.
Just as they didn’t want to give that away
JUST For a LOCAL BOY –
We Also Find Great Reward or Credit
For Ourselves Within the Ability to CLAIM
That We Have Filled our Lives up
to the Rim and Beyond
Just So We Can
Win the Prize of Being the Busiest!
Sometimes we Act as IF
The One Who Is Doing the Most
WINS the Race in Life!
But that is NOT OF GOD
But Rather - That Is All About Ourselves!
We Seem to Always FILL Our Lives
Clear to the Top Rim
With All of Our RESPONSIBILITIES.
We Have Things:
· Which Needs to Be Done,
· Places To Go,
· Jobs To Complete,
· Money To Make,
· And Families to Raise.
WE HAVE A 3 CAR GARAGE AND WE ARE STILL
BUILDING ON.
So – With Totally Filled Lives –
How Then –
Can We Live Our Lives For GOD?
Apostle Peter
Had It Right
When he Wrote: 1 Peter 5:6 (ESV)
6“Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God
so that at the proper time
He may exalt you,
7 Casting all your anxieties on Him,
Because He cares for you.
8 Be sober-minded;
Be watchful.
Your adversary,
The devil prowls around like a roaring lion,
Seeking someone to devour.”
And Here is Verse 7
once again:
7 Casting all your
anxieties on Him,
Because He cares for you.
SO - How Do we Cast Out Our Anxieties?
How Do we Give Our Anxieties to the Lord?
Do You Do This?
If You Don’t Already - Can You Do This?
You Do Know –
The ONLY Way
You Can Do this
Is Through Prayer!
And You May Say to me:
WHEN DO I HAVE TIME TO PRAY?
I AM ALEADY THAT BUSY!
And the Answer would be:
WE NEED TO LEARN
HOW TO PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!
But You May Say:
THAT’S GREAT FOR YOU PASTOR.
HOWEVER, I WILL PRAY - WHEN I HAVE TIME.
But ‘PRAYING WITHOUT CEASING’
IS REALLY EASY TO DO.
YOU SEE, We Do This,
By Making PRAYER the Essence,
The Very Heart - Of EVERYTHING WE DO.
SEIZE EVERY MOMENT WITH
The CONSTANT, The ENDLESS ASSURANCE
That YOU HAVE THE GIFT of ETERNAL LIFE!
You know:
Sometimes, I Do Wonder –
What’s
Wrong with this picture!
There just is no FRUIT to be seen!
So:
Either, We do not claim to have
the Gift of Eternal Life,
Or we claim to have it but,
In all True Reality,
We have Not yet obtained it.
I say this all Because, I believe that many of
us have Become the Biggest Scammer
That has Ever Lived.
We so excellently Scam Ourselves
Into Believing That We Have the Lord
Safe and Secure Within Us.
However – We do not show any fruit of the
Spirit.
And IF We have the SPIRIT and Eternal Life
Then How Can We Not BUT DISPLAY FRUIT
For All Others to Witness.
No Fruit – No Salvation.
Once again, we are looking
At a little Difference Between Translations,
The NLT and the ESV.
NLT - Luke 6:25 “Woe To You Who Are Full Now,
For You Shall Be Hungry.
ESV - Luke 6:25 “Woe To You Who Are Full Now,
For You Shall Be Hungry.
– Allow Me to Ask You a Probing Question.
IF the SPIRIT Is in You
Then - Do You Know
What YOU Are Hungry For?
In Matthew 5:6 it says:
“Blessed are those who hunger
And thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be satisfied.
But Do we Know what
Biblical Righteousness Really IS?
RIGHTEOUSNESS Is a PASSION For
The Right,
The Good,
And The Worthy.
RIGHTEOUSNESS Is PASSIONITLY
Doing All the Good You Can,
In Every Way You Can,
And For As Long as You Can.
Righteousness Is So Much More Than
JUST Keeping to the Rules.
It Is a STANDING-UP
for Justice!
It Is A QUEST – A SEARCH, A HUNT for Truth!
And It Is LIVING A LIFE of LOVE!
If You Are of God,
THEN - WHERE and IN-WHAT
Does YOUR PASSION Lie?
·
Have You a Passion for The Poor?
·
What About Single Mom’s and the Neglected
Children?
·
What About People Suffering from Diseases?
·
What about simply - What Is Right?
That is Just a Short List of God’s Passions.
Blessed Are Those Who
HUNGER and THIRST For RIGHTEOUSNESS.
A. Are You Hungry for A MEANINGFUL
LIFE?
Do You Have a Hunger To Do Something -
Meaningful For the Glory of God?
Life Is Not a Matter of Finding
Something to Live On,
But Rather – It Is Something to Live For.
People In Africa Today Are Dying for Lack of
Food.
All The While
People In America Today
Are Dying for Lack of
Purpose.
I believe Today, There is Someone
Who is
Sitting in One of These Pews
Who Is Saying:
“There’s Got to Be More to Life Than This.”
I To That I Say, “There Is.”
B. Are You Hungry for
A
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
Do You Have a Thirst
That the Things of this Earth
Just Cannot Quench?
Is There a Hunger Which is Left
Even After the World Has Given You
Everything You’ve Ever Hoped For?
Is this Thirst and Hunger, Is It from God?
Now - Don’t Try to
Satisfy This Thirst
This Hunger with Anything Less.
But Rather, Here Are 4 Things
· Which Will Help You
o To Develop A
§ True and Personal Relationship with God:
1. Feel the Hunger –
Don’t Disguise It.
Don’t Ignore It.
Let It RISE and Make You RESTLESS.
Psalm 42:1 Says, “As a deer pants for
flowing streams,
So pants my soul
for You, O God.”
2. Get Acquainted –
Read The Bible.
Participate In Worship.
Come and Partake in our small Groups.
Know and Understand –
That as strong is Your Search for God Is,
Nothing Compares to God’s Search for You!
Like A Good Shepherd, God Plunges Through the
Briar Patches and The Bars to Find His Own.
He Comes Out into The Darkness Pleading With
Self-Righteous Brothers to Join the Party.
God Is Seeking for You.
3. Make the Leap Of Faith –
We all Know that I Can’t Prove That God Exists.
And no one can Prove That He Doesn’t.
When It Has All Been Said and Done,
I’d Rather Take My Stand on My Faith
And Within The Promise Of Christ.
So, I Stand and Join in With
That Father within the pages of the Scripture, Who
Cries out in Mark 9:24,
“I Believe, Lord, Help My
Unbelief.”
4. And Live the Life–
Let The Holy Spirit Help You Become
WHO You Are Created to Be.
May The Spirit of The Living
Fall Afresh on You
And May I Remain
Until We Take on The Values of Jesus
And The Lifestyle of a Disciple.
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger Now,
For They Will Be Satisfied.
That Is God’s
Promise to You and me.
And God Never Ever Promises
What He Cannot Fulfill.
